Vos Says He Won't Agree to Updating Shared Revenue Program Without Spending Reforms From Local Governments

Friday, January 13th, 2023 -- 10:01 AM

(By Evan Casey, Wisconsin Public Radio) Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he won't agree to updating Wisconsin's shared revenue program without spending reforms from local governments, even as Milwaukee officials believe they've already cut millions of dollars from their budget. 

According to Evan Casey with Wisconsin Public Radio, local officials across Wisconsin have been calling for state lawmakers to update the program sooner rather than later, as many municipalities are facing impending budget and service cuts because of revenue caps and decreasing state aid.

Shared revenue is the largest state aid program for local municipalities. Discussions about the issue with state leadership, including Vos, have been going on for years. But past discussions haven't led to a change in policy.

"This whole issue has to be solved this year or communities are going to be in a real world of hurt," Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto said. In December, Vos said he was open to the idea of updating the shared revenue formula.

Vos' comments came after Gov. Tony Evers proposed increasing the program by 10 percent in the next two years. But Vos has since called on local governments to reform their own budgets first.

"We cannot have significant increases in local revenues without meaningful spending reforms and permanent cost-saving measures," Vos said in a statement Tuesday. "There continue to be many discussions regarding what a package might look like."

Declining shared revenue has been an ongoing issue for communities across the state. A 2021 op-ed from the mayors of Madison and Brookfield said shared revenue has been cut incrementally by $94 million since 2003.

A 2020 study from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy also found the shared revenue program decreased 12 percent from 2007 to 2017. That's leading more and more communities to ask taxpayers to increase local taxes through referendums.

According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, more than 20 communities asked voters to approve increased local taxes to support spending on public safety through referendums last November. 

But the issue is more pronounced in the state's largest city, as declining shared revenue and state revenue limits are leading Milwaukee officials to make tough budget cuts.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who called the shared revenue program "broken," said if the program had grown at the rate it had been before the state began its cuts, the city receive would've received $155 million more dollars for its 2023 budget.

A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report on Milwaukee's budget pointed to an upcoming "day of reckoning" for the city's finances because of the lack of financial help from the state. But Vos blamed part of the issue in Milwaukee on the city's pension program.

The Wisconsin Policy Forum report found the city's tax levy contribution to support its pension fund grew from $58 million in 2012 to nearly $130 million in 2022.

"They have really created their own huge financial boondoggle, but we can't let Milwaukee just fall off the side of the state," Vos said while appearing on Wisconsin Public Radio's "The Morning Show" Monday. Vos also said he's "certain" state lawmakers will continue to discuss the issue with Milwaukee officials.

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